Two Canadian women of Asian descent are contemplating eyelid surgery. Maria and Sharon, of Philippino and Korean heritage respectively, believe their looks–specifically their eyes–get in the way of how people see them. Layering their stories with pop culture references to beauty icons and supermodels, filmmaker Ann Shin looks at the pain that lies deep behind the desire for plastic surgery.
Maria Reba Estante, Sharon Kim

Until the age of nine, Matan never knew his older sister had a rare syndrome. When she chooses to undergo plastic surgery to change her syndrome-induced appearance, it sets him on a 15-year journey to reexamine their childhood and the bond they shared.
2026

An 11-month-old girl is adopted in China by white parents. 21 years later, that same girl, who is already an adult, reports how her eyes have become witnesses of hatred in a country that insists on saying that they are not racist.
2025

A 38 minute documentary that investigates why antisemitism exploded in Bay Area High Schools after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. This comes after years of anti-Asian hate and anti-white hate.
2024

Journalist Émilie Tran Nguyen invites the viewer to follow her in her quest and discover, at the same time as her, the historical origins of this anti-Asian racism. Told in the first person, alternating archive images, interviews with historians, sociologists and field sequences, this film traces the making of prejudices in the French imagination and pop culture, to twist the neck of stereotypes, deconstruct and act.
2024

As doctors transform their patients, physical changes reveal deeper truths about insecurities and aspirations. From Botox to risky body-altering procedures, explore the need for perfection that drives $50 billion cosmetic surgery industry.
2023

Seven Asian-Americans discuss their experiences with racism and the spike in Asian-directed hate crimes as a result of COVID-19.
2021

The life of Dr Han has become a permanent quest for perfection. From the livestreamed operating theatre to art fairs via fashion shows, the famous Chinese plastic surgeon has only one aim: beauty. Through the implacable portrait of this character, the film questions beauty as a simultaneously essential yet vain element of society in the era of selfies.
2020

In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland of Hong Kong to complete four iconic films. Charting his struggles between two worlds, this portrait explores questions of identity and representation through the use of rare archival footage, interviews with loved ones and Bruce’s own writings.
2020

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
2018

A documentary about British model Precious Muir as she moves to new York to become a fashion model, and undergoes breast enhancement surgery to make it in the industry.
2014

Four people turn to plastic surgery as the last resort in their search for perfection - their appearances will change, but will their lives?
2013

An age-obsessed daughter of a plastic surgeon takes a journey through America's $60 Billion a year anti-aging world. In this Alice-in Wonderland tale, McCabe spends 2 years traveling across America visiting doctors, experts and lives with a cross-section of characters from Minnesota to Texas who've gone to varying lengths to "beat the clock", to paint a funny but troubling portrait of a country that desperately needs to stay young.
2009

Louis Theroux: Under the Knife is a TV documentary written and presented by Louis Theroux about the people and doctors involved in plastic surgery operations. Filmed mostly in the USA, in the programme, Louis himself ends up getting liposuction.
2007

A look at the reasons why every year 70,000 Iranians have a nose job.
2006

Cindy Jackson has fulfilled her dream. She has spent over 100,000 euros and had herself transformed. From an ugly, clumsy Central American farmer's daughter, as she herself says, into a living Barbie doll.
2002

Portrait of the last year of the life of famous New York drag queen Consuela Cosmetic.
1996
Documentary which exposes the truth of how 'human guinea pigs' were used in government-funded radiation experiments without their knowledge or consent. It uncovers a series of breaches of ethical codes as scientists pursued military, scientific or medical knowledge. Includes archive footage.
1995
A documentary edited from ORLAN's seventh surgery in the The Reincarnation of Sainte-ORLAN series which aired live, vis satellite from New York in 1993.
1994

A variety of scientific subjects, including the laboratory of a plastic surgeon in London, and his method for applying permanent makeup; a new school for kiddies employing finger paint so they can express their urge to put things on paper; Army aviation, showing the latest development in blind landing. Produced in Cinecolor.
1938
In the age of surgically enhanced beauty and reality television, how do we perceive body image? MADE OVER IN AMERICA combines the style of reality television with experimental film to weave together the voices of producers and consumers, surgeons and their patients, clinical psychologists, media theorists, and youth who are coming of age in a culture where bodies seem to be customizable. Together they form a picture of how the desire for a better self operates within consumer culture and how this desire is fed by media, the makeover industry and culture at large.